Forum:Who is Van Rijn?
I was reading the second Girl Genius novel when it hit me: Who was Van Rijn? Now that I think about it, probably Tarvek. Here's my logic: Van Rijn would never sit for a portrait. He wanted his anonymity preserved perfectly, with little more than his notes and constructs survivng. Also Tarvek has had an undying fascination with the Muses, Van Rijn's greatest acheivements. Who better to go back in time and actually build them? And speaking of time travel, we know for a fact Agatha has access to that technology at some point, at the very least for viewing purposes. What's to stop her/Gil/Tarvek from turning those windows into doorways? Also, in the novel "Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess" we see that the muses are able to see the future much more accurately than anyone could have guessed. In fact, they were built to specifically not directly interfere with events, just to hint at possibilities and subtly guide people. Who better than a time travelling Spark like Tarvek to know exactly how far he could manipulate the timeline without actually damaging it? Whaddya think? RebuiltHumanThree (talk) 18:00, December 27, 2012 (UTC) : i hope you're wrong. otherwise, i would have to think less of the Foglios for using faulty time travelling logic (like so many others before). Finn MacCool (talk) 01:43, December 28, 2012 (UTC) : Van Rijn is Rembrandt van Rijn, who, in our timeline was a master painter. In Alternate History Europa, Rembrandt didn't create paintings that showed emotion better than others, he created clanks that showed emotion and facial expression better than anyone else in the world. Could he be Tarvek? Maybe. Or perhaps Tarvek is just obsessed with the Muses because they were built for the Storm King, whose crown Tarvek believes is rightfully his, and also because he was able to use Tinka to save his sister. He's even convinced the Muses that he has found that they were , which is why Tinka doesn't try to leave, and also why she brings Moxana to Tarvek. His goal is to find all the Muses and repair them with the knowledge he gained taking Tinka apart and Van Rijn's notes that Moxana brought him. Joseline.hargrave (talk) ::: Fascinating. But where in the cannon do you find the name Rembrant? RebuiltHumanThree (talk) 16:36, December 31, 2012 (UTC) ::: I haven't. This is just my theory. Van Rijn is Rembrandt's last name though, and we know that the GG universe shares some features with our own. Of course, the last name thing could just be a coincidence, but given our illustrious and well-read Professors, I tend to doubt that. Practically all of the main character's names seem to hold a deeper meaing. Joseline.hargrave (talk) ::: Today I got onto the site via the splash page that has the varying top images, and the image I got was Agatha holding a book with Castle Wulfenbach in the background. The book says R. v. R. on the cover. Went back and checked the comics, and the two times the book is shown, it also says RvR on the cover. Proof? No, but it does make my claim a bit more sound. Joseline.hargrave (talk)